Dual keypad phone

ABSTRACT

A telephone comprises a first body part with a first keypad and a second keypad located on opposite sides of the first body part, and a second body part having a display. As the first body part is swiveled to bring the second keypad to the front of the phone the processing circuitry may switch over to only accept input from the keypad that has been brought up. This input is used to control the applications currently running.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a telephone comprising two keypads.

BACKGROUND

Communication devices have during the last decades evolved from beingmore or less primitive telephones, capable of conveying only narrow bandanalog signals such as voice conversations, into the multimedia mobiledevices of today capable of processing large amounts of datarepresenting any kind of data, including text data, as well as verycomplex multi media content and game data.

While the processing capability of these devices has increased, theirphysical sizes are typically very small. A problem related to suchdevices is then how to enable a user to conveniently input data via keyson a keypad to the processing circuitry of the device. For example, atypical telephone keypad comprises 12 keys arranged in a 3 by 4 matrixconfiguration, each key having a plurality of functions depending onwhich processing is performed. Such a keypad configuration is adequatefor most purposes relating to telephone applications, such as dialing atelephone number and typing short text messages, but not adequate enoughwhen a user desires to perform more complex typing operations, such asinputting long texts or controlling a game.

In the prior art, there are a number of different solutions to problemsrelating to keypad input in telephone devices. Among these are deviceshaving a first keypad, having the typical 3 by 4 matrix configuration,sometimes located partly in front of a display and configured to betilted away revealing a larger part of the display on which a second,virtual, keypad is presented.

One example of a dual keypad telephone is the Nokia 9110 communicator.The 9110-device comprises a main body having one large keypad and aso-called flip lid with a small keypad together with a small display onone side and a large display on the opposite side of the lid. In a firstconfiguration, the lid is in a closed position, covering the main bodykeypad, and the phone is controlled by means of the small lid keypad.The lid can be tilted away from the main body, thereby placing thedevice in a second configuration where the main body keypad is revealedas well as the large display of the lid.

Another example in the prior art is that of the Nokia model 6800 mobiletelephone. The 6800-device comprises a main body having one keypad and aso-called flip lid with two keypads on opposite sides of the lid. In afirst configuration, the lid is in a closed position, covering the mainbody keypad, and the phone is controlled by means of one of the lidkeypads. The lid can be tilted away from the main body, thereby placingthe device in a second configuration where the second lid keypad isrevealed as well as the main body keypad. In the second configuration,the display is interspaced between the main body keypad and the lidkeypad.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of drawbacks related to communication devices according to priorart, it is an object of the present invention to provide improved inputcapability of a telephone.

The object is achieved in a first aspect by way of a telephone accordingto claim 1.

A telephone according to the invention hence comprises a display, afirst keypad, a second keypad and processing and communicationcircuitry. The first and second keypads are located on opposite sides ofa first body part of the telephone and the display is located in asecond body part of the telephone. The first and second body parts areelectrically and mechanically joined via a swivel hinge, which isconfigured to allow movement of the first and second body parts betweenat least a first and a second position relative to each other. The firstrelative position is such that said first keypad is facing in a firstdirection and the second keypad is facing in a second directionsubstantially different from the first direction and the display isfacing substantially in the first direction. The second relativeposition is such that the second keypad is facing in the firstdirection, the first keypad is facing in the second direction and thedisplay is facing substantially in the first direction.

In a preferred embodiment, the hinge is further configured to actuateelectric switching means connected to the circuitry in the telephonewhen allowing movement of the body parts between the first and secondposition relative to each other, and the processing and communicationcircuitry is configured to detect the actuation of the electricswitching means.

As the first body part is swiveled to bring the second keypad to thefront of the phone the processing circuitry may switch over to onlyaccept input from the keypad that has been brought up. This input isused to control the applications currently running.

Alternatively, the processing and communication circuitry may bearranged to accept input from both first and second keypads while thebody parts are in the second relative position. Such an arrangement mayadvantageously be used when operating the device during, e.g., gamecontrol when a user manipulates keys on both keypads simultaneously.

Preferably only a subset of the first keypad is activated and onlyduring the execution of a dedicated application.

Possibly the controller could be programmed to initiate certain tasksdepending on which keypad is set to be active. For instance if a gamekeypad is currently on the backside is swiveled to become active, thegame last played would automatically be started or, if the game keypadis dedicated to one particular game., that game would be started. Or ifa clavier type keypad were to be used, the musical application would bestarted.

An effect of the invention is hence that it provides the possibility ofhaving dedicated keypads, possibly comprising only a few keys, ajoystick or a clavier, for different types of applications, examples ofwhich include games and utility applications. This is advantageous inthat it provides a user of a telephone with a much improved inputcapability when compared to prior art devices.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1a-1c are schematically drawn perspective views of a telephoneaccording to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of a telephone according to thepresent invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIGS. 1a, 1b and 1c are three different perspective views of a telephone100 according to the present invention. The view in FIGS. 1a-c shows thetelephone 100 with a first body part 101 and a second body part 103. Thefirst body part 101 comprises a first keypad 105 and a second keypad106. The second body part 103 comprises a display 107. A swivel hinge109 connects the two body parts 101, 103 together and in FIG. 1a the twobody parts 101, 103 are in a first position relative to each other wherethe first keypad 105 is facing substantially in the same direction 122as the display 107. A swivel axis 130, around which the first 101 andsecond 103 body parts can swivel with respect to each other, is alsoindicated in FIGS. 1a-c. The situation illustrated in FIG. 1a is oneduring which a user of the telephone 100 may manipulate and inputinformation via the first keypad 105, e.g. dialing in order to place atelephone call, while at the same time viewing output information on thedisplay 107.

The view in FIG. 1b shows the two body parts 101, 103 in a positionrelative to each other, which is different from the relative positionshown in FIG. 1a. The first body part 101, with its first keypad 105, isin FIG. 1b slightly swiveled around the swivel axis 130. Thereby, FIG.1b illustrates a transition from the first relative position between thebody parts 101, 103 to a second relative position. The situationillustrated in FIG. 1b is one during which a user of the telephone 100typically refrains from using the keypads.

The view in FIG. 1c shows the two body parts 101, 103 in a positionrelative to each other, which is different from the relative positionsshown in FIGS. 1a and 1b. The second body part 103, with its display107, is in FIG. 1c swiveled around the swivel axis 130 and the angle ofswivel around swivel axis 130 is substantially different from thesituation shown in FIG. 1a and is substantially 180 degrees. Thereby,FIG. 1c illustrates a second relative position between the body parts101, 103. The display 107 faces in the first direction 122 while thefirst keypad faces substantially in a second direction 124. Thesituation illustrated in FIG. 1c is one during which a user of thetelephone 100 may use second keypad 106 to play a game etc., while atthe same time viewing output information on the display 107.

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of a telephone 200 according to the presentinvention. A first body part 201 comprises a processing unit 210connected to an antenna 222 via a transceiver 220, a memory unit 212, amicrophone 214, a first keypad 205, a second keypad 206 and a speaker216. The processing unit 210 is also connected to a display 207, whichis comprised in a second body part 203 of the telephone 200.

No detailed description will be presented regarding the specificfunctions of the different blocks of the telephone 200. In short,however, as the person skilled in the art will realize, the processingunit 210 controls the overall function of the functional blocks in thatit is capable of receiving input from the keypads 205, 206, audioinformation via the microphone 214 and receive suitably encoded andmodulated data via the antenna 222 and transceiver 220. The processingunit 210 is also capable of providing output in the form of sound viathe speaker 216, images via the display 207 and suitably encoded andmodulated data via the transceiver 220 and antenna 222.

The second body part 203 is mechanically connected to the first bodypart 201 via a swivel hinge 209. The display 207 is electricallyconnected to the processing unit 210 via electric connection means (notshown in FIG. 2) comprised in the hinge 209. The hinge 209 isconfigured, when it allows relative movement of the two body parts 201,203, to actuate an electric switch 224. The switch 224 is connected tothe processing unit 210 and is thereby capable of conveying informationregarding the relative position of the two body parts 201, 203 to theprocessing unit 210.

It is to be noted that the different blocks that have been describedabove are functional blocks and do not necessarily correspond to actualhardware units in a one-to-one relationship. As the skilled person willrealize, functionality comprised in the blocks of FIG. 2 may, wholly orin part, be comprised in one or more integrated circuits in the form ofany mixture of programmable and non-programmable circuits.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A telephone comprising a display, a firstkeypad, a second keypad and processing and communication circuitry,where: said first and second keypads are located on opposite sides of afirst body part of the telephone and said display is located in a secondbody part of the telephone, said first and second body parts areelectrically and mechanically joined via a swivel hinge, said hinge isconfigured to allow movement of said first and second body parts betweenat least a first and a second position relative to each other, saidfirst relative position is such that said first keypad is facing in afirst direction, said second keypad is facing in a second directionsubstantially different from said first direction and the display isfacing substantially in said first direction, said second relativeposition is such that said second keypad is facing in said firstdirection, said first keypad is facing in said second direction and thedisplay is facing substantially in said first direction such that atleast the first or the second keypad is active, and a controller of thetelephone initiates a particular task depending upon which keypad is setto be active.
 2. A telephone according to claim 1, where said hinge isfurther configured to actuate electric switching means connected to thecircuitry in the telephone when allowing movement of the body partsbetween said first and second position relative to each other, and saidprocessing and communication circuitry is configured to detect saidactuation of said electric switching means.
 3. A telephone according toclaim 1 in which said processing and communication circuitry is arrangedto accept input from said first keypad while said body parts are in thefirst relative position, and in which said processing and communicationcircuitry is arranged not to receive input from said second keypad whilesaid body parts are in the first relative position.
 4. A telephoneaccording to claim 1 in which said processing and communicationcircuitry is arranged to accept input from said second keypad while saidbody parts are in the second relative position, and in which saidprocessing and communication circuitry is arranged not to receive inputfrom said first keypad while said body parts are in the second relativeposition.
 5. A telephone according to claim 1, in which said processingand communication circuitry is arranged to accept input from said firstkeypad and said second keypad while said body parts are in the secondrelative position.
 6. A telephone according to claim 1, in which saidprocessing and communication circuitry is arranged not to receive inputfrom any of the first and second keypad when said first and second bodyparts are in a position relative to each other, which is different fromsaid first relative position and different from said second relativeposition.
 7. A telephone comprising: processing and communicationcircuitry; a display; a second keypad that is movable with respect tothe display between a first relative position and a second relativeposition, wherein in the first relative position the second keypad issubstantially parallel to the display and wherein in the second relativeposition the second keypad is also substantially parallel to thedisplay; and a first keypad positioned with respect to the second keypadsuch that the first keypad is substantially parallel to the secondkeypad when the second keypad is in the first relative position, and thefirst keypad is also substantially parallel to the second keypad whenthe second keypad is in the second relative position; wherein, when thesecond keypad is in the first relative position, the first keypad isoperable but the second keypad is not operable, and wherein, when thesecond keypad is in the second relative position, the first keypad isoperable and the second keypad is also operable, such that when thefirst or the second keypad is operable, a controller of the telephoneinitiates a particular task depending upon which keypad is set to beoperable.
 8. The telephone of claim 7, wherein the first keypadcomprises a joystick.
 9. The telephone of claim 7, wherein the secondkeypad comprises a joystick.
 10. The telephone of claim 7, wherein theprocessing and communication circuitry are configured to run a gameapplication.
 11. The telephone of claim 7, wherein the processing andcommunication circuitry are configured to operate a music application inresponse to user input on the first keypad or the second keypad.
 12. Thetelephone of claim 7 wherein only a subset of the first keypad isoperable when the second keypad is in the second relative position. 13.The telephone of claim 12 wherein the subset of the first keypad isoperable only during execution of a dedicated application.
 14. Atelephone comprising: processing and communication circuitry; a display;a second keypad that is movable with respect to the display between afirst relative position and a second relative position, wherein in thefirst relative position the second keypad is substantially parallel tothe display and wherein in the second relative position the secondkeypad is also substantially parallel to the display; a first keypadpositioned with respect to the second keypad such that the first keypadis substantially parallel to the second keypad when the second keypad isin the first relative position, and the first keypad is alsosubstantially parallel to the second keypad when the second keypad is inthe second relative position; and a switch configured to conveyinformation regarding the relative position of the second keypad withrespect to the display; wherein the processing and communicationcircuitry is configured to accept the information conveyed by the switchand (a) activate the first keypad and deactivate the second keypad whena determination is made, based on the information, that the secondkeypad is in the first relative position, and (b) activate the firstkeypad and activate the second keypad when a determination is made,based on the information, that the second keypad is in the secondrelative position, such that when the first or the second keypad isactivated, a controller of the telephone initiates a particular taskdepending upon which keypad is set to be active.
 15. The telephone ofclaim 14, wherein the first keypad comprises a joystick.
 16. Thetelephone of claim 14, wherein the second keypad comprises a joystick.17. The telephone of claim 14, wherein the processing and communicationcircuitry are configured to run a game application.
 18. The telephone ofclaim 14, wherein the processing and communication circuitry areconfigured to operate a music application in response to user input onthe first keypad or the second keypad.
 19. A telephone comprising:processing and communication circuitry; a display; a second keypad thatis movable with respect to the display between a first relative positionand a second relative position, wherein in the first relative positionthe second keypad is substantially parallel to the display and whereinin the second relative position the second keypad is also substantiallyparallel to the display; a first keypad positioned with respect to thesecond keypad such that the first keypad is substantially parallel tothe second keypad when the second keypad is in the first relativeposition, and the first keypad is also substantially parallel to thesecond keypad when the second keypad is in the second relative position;and switching means for detecting when the second keypad is in the firstrelative position and for detecting when the second keypad is in thesecond relative position, wherein the processing and communicationcircuitry is configured to determine the position of the second keypadbased on an input received from the switching means and to (a) acceptinput from the first keypad and ignore input from the second keypad whenthe second keypad is in the first relative position, and (b) acceptinput from the second keypad and accept input from the first keypad whenthe second keypad is in the second relative position, such that acontroller of the telephone initiates a particular task depending uponwhich keypad input is set to be accepted.
 20. The telephone of claim 19,wherein the first keypad comprises a joystick.
 21. The telephone ofclaim 19, wherein the second keypad comprises a joystick.
 22. Thetelephone of claim 19, wherein the processing and communicationcircuitry are configured to run a game application.
 23. The telephone ofclaim 19, wherein the processing and communication circuitry areconfigured to operate a music application in response to user input onthe first keypad or the second keypad.
 24. A method of controllingoperation of a telephone that includes (a) processing and communicationcircuitry, (b) a display, (c) a second keypad that is movable withrespect to the display between a first relative position and a secondrelative position, wherein in the first relative position the secondkeypad is substantially parallel to the display and wherein in thesecond relative position the second keypad is also substantiallyparallel to the display, (d) a first keypad positioned with respect tothe second keypad such that the first keypad is substantially parallelto the second keypad when the second keypad is in the first relativeposition, and the first keypad is also substantially parallel to thesecond keypad when the second keypad is in the second relative position,and (e) a switch configured to convey information regarding the relativeposition of the second keypad with respect to the display, the methodcomprising the steps of: determining the position of the second keypadbased on the information conveyed by the switch; blocking input via thesecond keypad when the second keypad is in the first relative position;accepting input via the second keypad when the second keypad is in thesecond relative position; accepting input via the first keypad when thesecond keypad is in the first relative position and when the secondkeypad is in the second relative position; and controlling theinitiation of a particular task when input from the first or secondkeypads is accepted, the particular task determined based upon whichkeypad has input that is set to be accepted.
 25. The method of claim 24,further comprising the step of running a game application.
 26. Themethod of claim 24, further comprising the step of operating a musicapplication in response to user input on the first keypad or the secondkeypad.
 27. A telephone comprising: processing and communicationcircuitry; a controller, a display; a second keypad that is movable withrespect to the display between a first relative position and a secondrelative position, wherein in the first relative position the secondkeypad is substantially parallel to the display and wherein in thesecond relative position the second keypad is also substantiallyparallel to the display; and a first keypad positioned with respect tothe second keypad such that the first keypad is substantially parallelto the second keypad when the second keypad is in the first relativeposition, and the first keypad is also substantially parallel to thesecond keypad when the second keypad is in the second relative position;wherein, when the second keypad is in the first relative position, thefirst keypad is operable but the second keypad is not operable, andwherein, when the second keypad is in the second relative position, thefirst keypad is operable and the second keypad is also operable suchthat the controller is used to initiate a task based on which keypad isoperable.
 28. A telephone comprising: processing and communicationcircuitry; a display; a second keypad that is movable with respect tothe display between a first relative position and a second relativeposition, wherein in the first relative position the second keypad issubstantially parallel to the display and wherein in the second relativeposition the second keypad is also substantially parallel to thedisplay; a first keypad positioned with respect to the second keypadsuch that the first keypad is substantially parallel to the secondkeypad when the second keypad is in the first relative position, and thefirst keypad is also substantially parallel to the second keypad whenthe second keypad is in the second relative position; and switchingmeans for detecting when the second keypad is in the first relativeposition and for detecting when the second keypad is in the secondrelative position, wherein the processing and communication circuitry isconfigured to determine the position of the second keypad based on aninput received from the switching means and to (a) accept input from thefirst keypad and ignore input from the second keypad when the secondkeypad is in the first relative position, (b) accept input from thesecond keypad and accept input from the first keypad when the secondkeypad is in the second relative position, and (c) not to accept inputfrom any of the first and second keypads when the second keypad is notin the first or second relative positions.